"I really felt for Shafali Verma at the end, it was tough seeing her in tears but she should be very proud of the way she's performed in Australia," Brett Lee wrote in his column for the ICC.
Gujarat Giants handed Delhi Capitals an 11-run defeat to pick up only their second win of the inaugural season of the Women's Premier League.
Ellyse Perry, Tahila McGrath and Ashleigh Gardner's impressive all-round display powered Australia to a crushing 141-run victory over New Zealand, their third consecutive, in the ICC Women's ODI World Cup, in Wellington, on Sunday.
Meg Lanning's Australia, long the benchmark in women's cricket, will bid for a record-extending fifth T20 World Cup title after a rocky ride to their sixth final. Harmanpreet Kaur-captained India arrive at the MCG undefeated and without having bowled a ball in the rained-out semi-final against England.
'Things get easier for me in this zone and today I think it was one of those days when I was more relaxed because the team is so brilliant, everyone is so positive. We are all backing each other.'
Australia women's coach Matthew Mott admitted that his team were kept under the pump all through the Test and 'we never really got back in the game'.
Schutt became the first Australian bowler to claim a hat-trick in this format.
There was a huge uproar in the Commonwealth Games gold medal match after Australia cricketer Tahlia McGrath was allowed to play the T20 final against India on Sunday despite testing positive for COVID-19.
Meg Lanning's 135 not out led her Australia side to a thumping five-wicket win over South Africa, continuing their unbeaten run at the ICC Women's ODI World Cup 2022 at Basin Reserve in Wellington on Tuesday.
Wicketkeeper-batter Richa Ghosh struck two boundaries before perishing and then Heather Graham dismissed Devika Vaidya and Radha Yadav in consecutive deliveries to be in the fray for a hat-trick, which she completed in the final over of the match.
Gujarat Giants registered their first win of the inaugural edition of the Women's Premier League as they handed Royal Challengers Bangalore an 11-run defeat.
Smriti Mandhana struck a sublime half-century as India finally produced a good batting display to record a seven-wicket win over Australia in Melbourne on Saturday, keeping their hopes alive for a place in the final of the women's T20 tri-series. Australia posted 173 for 5 courtesy of a quickfire 57-ball 93 from Ashleigh Gardner and Meg Lanning's 22-ball 37 after India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur elected to field at the Junction Oval.
Chasing a challenging 150-run target, Mandhana smashed 52 off 49 balls and shared 57 runs with Jemimah Rodrigues (23 off 26) for the second wicket to set the platform before India lost four wickets in the span of 10 runs and succumbed easily.
WPL witnessed special performances from some of the best cricketers in the world
New Zealand continued their unbeaten run at the ICC Women's World Twenty20 cricket tournament by coasting to a convincing six-wicket win over Australia to register their third consecutive win in Group A, in Nagpur on Monday.
India's semi-final hopes suffered a major jolt after Australia notched up a comfortable eight-wicket win, riding on a superb show by their top-order batswomen in the ICC Women's World Cup in Bristol on Wednesday.
India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur came much cheaper for Mumbai Indians at nearly half the price of Mandhana at Rs 1.80 crore.
All-rounder Sneh Rana showed nerves of steel by choking runs in the death overs as the India women's cricket team pipped hosts England by four runs to enter the final of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham on Saturday.
With three leagues games remaining, India must gain consistency in all departments and maintain their place in the top four to qualify for the semi-finals.
Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur will lead two teams in the one-off Women's T20 Challenge on May 22 ahead of the Indian Premier League's Qualifier 1 match in Mumbai.
The stage is set for the inaugural edition of the Women's Premier League, which will get underway in Mumbai on Saturday.
India have four wins in five games but, unfortunately for a team high on potential, it haven't looked like they have identified the brand of cricket that consistently works for it.
Wicketkeeper-batter Alyssa Healy smashed her way to a brilliant 133 off 115 balls with the Southern Stars piling up a massive 332 for 7.
Australia won their seventh ICC Women's Cricket World Cup with a 71-run victory over England in Christchurch.
Australia team celebrated their fifth title and a record-breaking final at a ceremony in the centre of Melbourne on Monday.
Harmanpreet Kaur says Shafali Verma struggled to bounce back from dropping Alyssa Healy but refused to blame the teenager for defeat in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup final, in Melbourne, on Sunday. India, playing in their first Women's T20 World Cup final, had no answer to Alyssa Healy (75) and Beth Mooney (78 not out) before folding to 99 all out at the hands of seamer Megan Schutt and spinner Jess Jonassen.
A young Alyssa Healy grew up batting in a backyard where hitting windows meant getting out. Now, she just breaks glass ceilings. Healy is the latest in Australia's most storied cricketing lineage, with all the pluck and expectation that comes with it.
Regular knock out defeats at global events gives rise to serious questions
Opener Rachael Haynes smashed a scintillating 130 as Australia scored a 12-run win over defending champions England in a high-scoring ICC Women's World Cup match, in Hamilton, on Saturday. In another match, South Africa handed Bangladesh a 32-run defeat in Dunedin.
India will face their biggest challenge so far in the ICC Women's World T20 when they lock horns with a gifted Australian team in an inconsequential game, in Guyana, on Saturday.
Not considered among the top T20 teams in the world, India produced a power-packed performance, winning the opener against a formidable New Zealand side by 34 runs after skipper Harmanpreet Kaur's 51-ball 103.
The Indian women's cricket team would now go through a trial by fire when it make its day-night Test debut against Australia in the one-off game, starting in Gold Coast on Thursday.
India's young batters Yastika Bhatia and Shafali Verma dazzled at the top with contrasting half-centuries to power their team to a consolation two-wicket victory over Australia in the third women's ODI, which ended the home team's 26-match unbeaten streak in Mackay.
Ecstatic with the women's cricket team's historic series triumph over Australia, men's fielding coach R Sridhar has sought to claim a bit of credit for it, saying that pep talks from him and the likes of M S Dhoni might have contributed to the aggressive approach that Mithali Raj and Co. displayed.
Australia goes into the ICC women's T20 World Cup summit clash as favourites, but with India having stunned them on the opening night in Sydney, we could be in for the most electric final yet.
Skipper Meg Lanning's blazing knock helped Australia reach a record total before Megan Schutt led a brilliant bowling performance to beat arch-rivals England by 57 runs in the final of the women's T20 tri-series.
England is the third team to figure in the tournament in which all matches will be played at the Cricket Club of India's Brabourne Stadium.
Captain Meg Lanning's splendid 97 helped Australia outclass India by six wickets to become the first team to qualify for the ICC Women's ODI World Cup, in Auckland, on Saturday.
Team India needs to ensure that the frequent middle-order collapses are not repeated in the showpiece event.
'Women's cricket just had a huge boost with the way our team performed in the World Cup.' 'Why not take advantage and lay the groundwork to launch a women's IPL?'
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